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A Russian flag flying at half-mast over the Kremlin
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MOSCOW,
August 22 (IslamOnline & New Agencies) - Russia marked a day of
mourning Thursday, August 22, after Chechen fighters shot down a
military helicopter in their biggest attack during the 35-month war in
the Caucasus republic that saw the death toll rise to 116 people when
another soldier died from his wounds.
Military
officials said several more soldiers remained in serious condition in
a hospital in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, expressing fear that
the toll could rise still higher, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Flags
flew at half-mast on government building and television stations were
asked to cancel all entertainment programs for the day.
President
Vladimir Putin, who has called the incident a “catastrophe,”
declared a day of national mourning but has refrained from directly
commenting on the incident for three days.
He
received a report on the downing Thursday from Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov, who rushed to the scene Tuesday, August 20, and suspended a
top army general responsible for the ground troops’ air force, AFP
said.
Putin
asked Ivanov why the Mi-26 chopper was overloaded, and apparently
transporting civilians along with soldiers, in breach of army rules.
“How
could this have happened, even though the defense minister had banned
civilians from being transported,” on the helicopter, news agencies
quoted Putin as asking Ivanov.
He
further express his disappointment with the pace of army reforms,
which are being overseen by Ivanov, who is viewed as one of Putin’s
most trusted allies in the government.
“Military
reforms are being conducted so that the army becomes more viable and
effective, so that such tragedies do not happen,” Putin said.
The
incident delivered a potentially serious blow to the prestige of
Putin’s government, which has on repeated occasions pronounced the
second war in Chechnya as over and won, AFP said.
After
initially suggesting that the crash was caused by an engine
malfunction, investigators confirmed Tuesday that Chechen rebels shot
down the aircraft.
Deputy
state prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said investigators discovered a
Strela missile launcher used by the Chechen fighters. However he
refrained from linking the launcher directly to the crash, stressing
that it “appears recent, but it is up to experts to determine when
it was used.”
The
Russian-made Mi-26, the world’s largest helicopter known as The Cow,
crashed only minutes before it had been due to land.
Russian
troops attacked southern Chechnya in October 1999, ever since which
thousands of Chechens have been killed.
Russia
has so far lost around 4,500 troops in the conflict, according to its
own figures, although independent observers suggest that the true
figure may be three times higher. 
